Sen. Lindsey Graham pledges to maintain hold on Obama nominees

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in October that he would put a procedural hold on Homeland Security secretary nominee Jeh Johnson and Federal Reserve chairwoman nominee Janet Yellen. (AP File)

Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would continue to block two of President Obama's nominees despite CBS retracting a story on the Benghazi attack that the South Carolina Republican cited when making his threat.

Graham said in October that he would put a procedural hold on Homeland Security secretary nominee Jeh Johnson and Federal Reserve chairwoman nominee Janet Yellen.

That threat followed a "60 Minutes" report of the September 2012 attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. The report cited a British contractor who said that he had witnessed the attack. But CBS has since retracted the story after the contractor acknowledged that he had previously told the FBI that he was not at the consulate during the attack.

Graham said he wasn't backing down, insisting that he wants to interview five officials who were at the compound the night of the attack.

"My request has been going on for a year to talk to the five survivors of the State Department," Graham said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I never asked for the British contractor," Graham said. "I didn't know he existed."